Bookkeeping & Accounting Courses in Singapore

Bookkeeping and accounting courses in Singapore help students learn business skills.

Singaporean business schools and colleges teach bookkeeping and accounting courses through a variety of channels: online, on campus or on company premises. Students who attend these sessions typically have a high school diploma or a two-year college degree. They learn accounting rules, financial statement items and basic financial analysis tools and methodologies.

Purpose

Bookkeeping and accounting courses teach students generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and how they compare with Singapore Accounting Standards (SAS). Students also become familiar with basic financial analysis tools (such as ratios), accounting ledgers and "complete" financial statements. "Complete" financial statements include a balance sheet, an income statement, a cash flow statement and a statement of owners' capital.

Management & Accounting Schools

There are various business and accounting schools in Singapore. Most are domestic universities, colleges and training centers; some are local branches of foreign academic institutions. Students may take courses online or on-site. Courses may lead to four-year degrees or advanced diplomas.

Bank Reconciliation

Bank reconciliation is a business activity that ensures that a company's cash balance in accounting books equals cash available in checking or savings accounts. This course teaches students techniques to use in reconciling bank accounts with corporate records. A bank typically sends a statement out every month with details of all transactions. A bank reconciliation specialist then matches all items with company books and investigates differences. These differences (or mismatches) may occur because a company may not have recorded some checks that already cleared bank accounts.

Fixed and Current Assets

This course introduces students to corporate assets. An asset, simply stated, represents an organization's resource, or what it owns. (A liability represents a "charge," or what an organization owes.) A current asset is a resource that a company intends to use in 12 months or less. Examples of current assets include cash, inventories, accounts receivable or short-term investments. A fixed asset, also called a long-term asset, is a resource that a firm will use for a year or more (e.g., machines or land).

Provision for Bad and Doubtful Debts

This course explores techniques used to estimate "bad" and "doubtful debts." "Bad debts" are amounts that a company believes it cannot recover from customers. "Doubtful debts" are amounts likely to fall into the "bad debt" category if management cannot recover them after three to six months. A company records "bad" and "doubtful debts" as expenses (or provisions).

Profit & Loss Accounts

This course teaches students basic elements in a profit and loss statement (also called income statement). An income statement lists a firm's revenues and expenses during a period and calculates the net income (i.e., revenues minus expenses). Examples of profit and loss accounts may be sales, cost of sales, salaries expenses and rent.

References

• Uptrend Business School: LCCI Book-Keeping and Accounting Intermediate Level 2 - Accounting Courses
• BMC International College: LCCI Certificate in Complete Book-Keeping (Level 1 & Level 2)
• Learn4Good: Management & Business Schools in Singapore
• Deloitte & Touche: Changes to Singaporean Accounting Standards